Scars of Mandalore
by Zekiev Clayton-Zolnerowich
Summary: The adventures of Canis Zol, a newly recruited Imperial Stormtrooper. Will he succeed in this new empire, or does the force have something else in store for him?
1. Chapter 1, White noise

**(Disclaimer, I do not own Star-Wars. I own only my original characters. This disclaimer applies to all future chapters.)**

A set of shiny white armor, topped with a helmet, was handed to me by the Imperial officer before me. "Welcome to the new Empire." He smiled, patting my shoulder as I took the armor from him. He motioned me towards another trooper, who nodded and shook my hand as the officer left.

"We don't get many recruits, so you're a bit of a rarity. What's your name, kid?" He asked in a light accent, taking his helmet off.

"Canis, Canis Zol." I replied, noticing that the man was a clone trooper. "And yours?"

"Everyone calls me Sai, and hey, it's better than a serial number, so I guess that works." He laughed, as we walked down a long corridor, which was, you guessed it, white. Very, blindingly, white.

Everything was so shiny, and honestly, it hurt my eyes. Even the armor was a shiny white. Jeez, these guys were bigger on the color white than the old republic, which was really saying something. But it was a job, and I sort of need the money, not to mention the only thing I'm really good at is fighting. And the new empire really seemed to need fighters.

"So, I'm guessing you're my CO?" I asked, noting the extra red on his armor. We turned around a corner I barely noticed, and entered what seemed to be a bunkroom, complete with a few other clone troopers relaxing.

"Yes, I'm guessing the armor gave me away?" he joked, motioning at the troopers. "These guys will be your new squadmates, but if they give you any trouble, don't take it personally. They have never worked with anyone but Jedi, and more clones. So pick a bunk and rest up, tomorrow is going to be a long day." He finished, turning around the corner and continuing down the hallway.

All eyes were on me as I waved at the clones nervously, taking an empty bunk nearest to the door. I placed the shiny white armor on the bed, and slid my duffel bag off onto the floor beside it.

"Hey, newbie, you sure you got the right room?" One of the troopers called, glaring at me.

"Uh…yeah?" I replied quietly. This was just nerve wracking, and I really wasn't looking forward to any awkward confrontation.

The trooper stood up, making his way over to me, glaring at me the entire time.

"You think you got what it takes to be a soldier?" he said cockily, poking me in the chest. He was a bit taller than me, but I wasn't backing down.

"Yeah, aren't you a little short to be a Stormtrooper?" one of the other clones shouted, causing the room to erupt with laughter.

'_Oh great, they all laugh the same. That isn't creepy at all.'_

"You know, I used to hear all these stories about the brave clones and how fierce they were in battle. Either I heard wrong, or you guys must be new at this 'soldier' thing." I smirked, keeping eye contact with the clone in front of me. The room grew quiet, quick. _'Good.'_

He smirked, and punched me in the arm. "You're a smartass. I think we'll get along just fine." He said, putting his hand out. "Name's Wright, glad to have you aboard."

"I'm Canis, glad to be aboard." I replied, shaking his hand. _'Whew, I'm glad that didn't blow up in my face'_ I thought to myself as Wright made his way back to his bunk.

I placed my armor in the locker beside my bed, which, in fact, was also white. I was really beginning to hate the color.

"ATTEN-TION!" a voice boomed at the entrance, and I quickly stood at the edge of my bunk, next to a trooper. The drill sergeant made his way slowly down the aisle in between our bunks, going back and forth as he inspected us. Much to my disdain, he stopped at me.

"Well I'll be damned!" He boomed, staring me dead in the face, "A new face around here! Just when I thought everyone else was ugly, I see you! You've got a face only a mother could love, and that's more than most of these maggots have!" he insulted, trying to get at me. But I had heard it all before, all the insults, all the yelling. Needless to say, it didn't bother me at all.

"Why are you here son?!" he yelled again, placing his arms behind his back.

"Sir, I needed a job, sir!" I replied, keeping my stance.

"Well hot damn, aren't you honest?! None of that 'glory for the empire bullshit', huh?! I think you will fit in just well!" he roared, turning and walking away, leaving me very confused. "At ease!" he shouted before leaving the room. We all relaxed, and the troopers around me continued their previous activities.

'_And so it begins.' _I thought to myself, as I began to polish my incredibly white boots.

**(I absolutely HATED this chapter; I looked over and changed it a thousand times. I may not even continue the story, but I'll see what you guys think of it first. Please review, or message me and tell me what you think.)**


	2. Chapter 2, The new guys

**(I guess I'll give this another go.)**

I had just settled in to my bunk after placing my Stormtrooper medic armor in the tall locker next to my bed when Sai entered the room. He motioned for me to come with him with a bored expression.

"Zol, come with me. Imperial business and whatnot." He said in an exhausted tone. I complied without question, holding back a groan of annoyance. I just got comfortable.

He led me down the very white corridor, passing by some very stiff looking Stormtroopers, and into a very posh looking office. I already hated it. The walls were wood, which was refreshing, and my boots sunk in the soft red carpet. It radiated a feeling of arrogance, like whoever worked here thought they were second to the Emperor himself. Sitting at the large wooden desk was a small man with a rather large nose.

"Commander." The black uniformed officer began, his tone bored. "Thank you for bringing me these…special candidates." He finished, motioning to the three other people in the room. They all stood at attention, their eyes staring at the synthetic wood walls. "You may be excused SI-4643."

Commander Sai saluted, and then promptly left the room. He seemed just as eager to leave as the rest of us, and this snotty little man made me very uncomfortable. Of course I would never say this to his face, as the punishment would be severe. These imperials and their pride, I swear.

"CZ-6336, please, take a seat. The rest of you are permitted to sit as well." He continued, intertwining his fingers in front of his face. The other three "candidates" took their seats around me, looking very stiff. The man sitting next to me was obviously a clone trooper, but looked old and experienced, his face was scarred, and he had a large knife sheathed on his chest. Sitting to my left was a blond woman, who looked angrier than the rest, her fists clenched tightly. On the far right was a slightly more relaxed looking human with long black hair, clearly breaking regulation. He was staring at a large stuffed wookie in the corner of the office, his eyes slightly narrowed.

"I've brought you all here today to tell you about a little…experiment." He said with a smirk. "You will all be put into a squad together. You will work together, on and off of the field. The rest is confidential, and does not concern any of you. Only know that these orders come directly from Lord Vader himself, after evaluating all of you. Any objections?"

His question was met with silence, which is probably what he wanted. Besides, objecting to direct orders from your superior meant punishment. Not to mention straight from Vader himself. Touchy types, I hated them.

"Good. SC-0274, show them to your new quarters." The clone stood up and saluted, and we followed in suit, saluting the small man and leaving.

"What a fucking asshole!" The blonde woman growled, clenching her fists tightly. The clone only grunted, and continued walking. I decided to remain quiet for a while.

"I'm just glad to be out of that office. Smelt a bit like dusty wookie." The long haired trooper said, his arms crossed. "Not even remotely okay."

We soon reached our new quarters, only to find that our gear and personal things had already been transferred to the new room. It was much like any other barracks, only smaller. It only had four beds, each with a locker next to it. The grey lockers had our serial numbers on them, so that is where we decided to go. Obviously.

"I don't like that they went through our stuff." The female trooper said suspiciously. I shrugged, as I didn't have much of importance. It wasn't a big deal for me, as long as all my stuff was still there.

"And you. You haven't said anything." She said, pointing at me. All of a sudden, I felt incredibly comfortable. All eyes were on me. Ugh.

"Uh…I'm Canis. Canis Zol." I said quietly, looking at the other troopers. My hopes were answered, thankfully.

"Skaal." The clone said simply, lying on his bed as he flipped through a book.

"Grey Nelda. Nice to meet you guys. We are already such a big, happy family, I can feel it." He said sarcastically, throwing himself onto his bed.

"Summer. The name is Summer." The slightly less angry looking trooper said, unclenching her fists. "And I'm going to bed."

"Well. I'm glad we got…whatever that was out of our systems." Grey said, clapping his hands once. "One big, happy family." He finished, rolling over to sleep. The clone only grunted and put away his book, shutting the light off. I joined them; waiting for what tomorrow would bring our strange squad.

**(Thanks for reading! Be sure to review! And to avoid any confusion in future chapters, the character's serial codes are as follows: **

**Canis Zol-CZ-6336 **

**Grey Nelda-GN-2690**

**Summer Deshra-SD-4751**

**Skaal-SC-0274**


	3. Chapter 3, To Infinity, and beyond!

**(Here's chapter 3! And a big thanks to Hoplite39 for letting me use his Imperial orders! You should really check out his story-**_**Loyal soldier of the Empire - Journal of an Imperial Stormtrooper**_**-It is pretty amazing.)**

Date:11BBY/Primeday/month 3

The morning flew by incredibly fast, and before we knew it, the four of us were on a shuttle to an Imperial star destroyer. We had our gear piled into large white duffle bags beside us, along with our personal things. It would be my first time on a Star Destroyer, so I was pretty out of it. In case you didn't know, those things are massive. The others were pretty calm, since they were probably in service much longer than myself. The clone would most likely be our team leader, as he had been enlisted much longer.

"Calm down Zol, it isn't so bad after the first few days." Grey spoke, his breath turning to mist in the shuttle's cold air. He seemed pretty relaxed, and was leaning against the wall with his bag next to him. "Just expect more grey and black."

Skaal smirked, "It isn't much better in the Republic, what with all the damned white." He finished, rolling his eyes. His voice shocked me, and I realized I hadn't heard the man say much since we had met. I turned back to fiddling with the strap on one of my bags, when the pilot spoke over the loudspeaker.

"We are preparing to land inside the Star Destroyer _Infinity_. Get your things ready and prepare to march out." He finished, clicking off the intercom.

-5 minutes later-

We marched off the ship in a single file line, marching up to an Imperial officer standing at attention. We broke our line, standing shoulder to shoulder at attention in front of the officer. We stood for only a few seconds before he began speaking to us in a serious tone.

"Hello, and welcome to _Infinity._ I will be your new commanding officer. You may call me commander Frell. I will show you to your quarters immediately." He finished, turning on his heel as we fell into a line behind him. The ship was even bigger on the inside, and I could barely contain my wonder. They never took us on a star destroyer in the Imperial Academy, so it was a sight indeed. We made our way into the Stormtrooper quarters, and commander Frell led us to our specialized four person room.

"I will return in one hour to collect you for briefing. Have your things put away and be prepared for my return. You will be briefed by senior Moff Harkens, so show utmost respect, and be on your best behavior." He finished, turning again and leaving the room.

"Well, at least our commander isn't a complete jerk now." Summer announced quietly, putting her things away. "But I'm still curious as to why we were moved here so quickly."

"I guess we will find out when the Moff tells us." Grey stated simply, storing his gear as well. I was too busy putting my things away to join in the conversation, but I was curious too. I was only a few weeks out of the Academy, and I was already on some special team. It was a bit too quick for me, honestly.

"You two don't talk much." The woman said after putting her things away. I turned my head her way and assumed Skaal did the same, since she looked back and forth between us.

"I'm not much of a talker." I announced, turning back to my locker, setting my helmet into the required foam mold so it wouldn't be damaged in the event of an accident. Skaal simply grunted, laying on his bed and opening his small book back up.

"Awww come on guys, we can do better than this!" Grey groaned, throwing his hands into the air, "We're a family after all! We have to get along!"

"The idiot is right." The blue eyed woman stated, crossing her arms and standing between our beds.

"Yeah!" Grey agreed, before he looked quickly to the woman who insulted him. "Hey!"

"We are obviously stuck together." She continued, placing her hands on her hips. "So we might as well get to know one another before this briefing." She finished, walking to the circular table at the far side of the room. She motioned for all of us to take a seat, as she sat herself against the wall.

"Yay! Bonding time!" Grey announced sarcastically, taking his own seat. Skaal and I complied with her request, rising from our beds and taking the last two seats.

"Okay then." I started, resting my elbows on the table, "Who first then?" I was against telling these strangers about my life, but the Blonde was right. If we were to be a team, we had to trust each other. So I guess "bonding" as Nelda put it, was necessary.

"I'll break the ice. Just the basics though." Our only female teammate started. We all seemed to agree silently to only telling what we wanted, so I was a bit more comfortable. "My name is Summer Deshra. SD-4751. I'm from Mandalore. Next?" she finished quickly, though my ears perked when I heard her last name.

"Did you say Deshra?" I asked slowly, putting my hands on the table.

"Yes, of Mandalore. Problem, trooper?" She asked cautiously, squinting slightly.

I shrugged slightly as I began my turn at the table. "Canis Zol, CZ-6336, also from Mandalore." I stated quietly, motioning to Grey across the table.

"Grey Nelda, GN-2690, Kashyyk."

"No wonder you smell like a wet wookie." Summer joked, getting a rise from the long haired trooper.

We all looked to the senior member of our squad, waiting on him to speak.

"Skaal. SC-0274. Kamino." He declared, nodding to us all, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

We all talked quietly for the rest of the hour before commander Frell returned, clearing his throat to get our attention.

"Senior Moff Harkens will see you now." He stated, motioning for us. "Follow me."

**(Thanks for reading, and be sure to review! I hope you liked the chapter! I know they have moved quite a bit already, but I assure you, Infinity will be their base of operations for a long while. And again, many thanks to Hoplite39 for the advice he has given me!)**


	4. Chapter 4, Briefing

We arrived in a conference room after just a few minutes of walking and an elevator ride. It was a large grey room with a long, black table. A few imperial officers sat talking amongst themselves, passing the time as we entered the room. A silence fell quickly as we were shown to our seats at the end of the table, and I sat straight in my high-backed chair, awaiting the briefing.

"As you know," Began an older looking man, obviously the Senior Moff, "the four of you have been chosen to be in a special squad, as per Lord Vader's request." He continued, straightening the papers in front of him. "Yours is a roster that is quite diverse, I might add."

I didn't take my eyes off of the man the entire time he was speaking, my mind racing with each word. What could Vader have possibly seen in me? Why did he assign me to this squad? These are questions I would ask, but I dared not speak until I was sure I was allowed to.

"Your squad serial number will be SQ-6240, and Lord Vader has given each of you authorization to equip yourselves as you see fit." Another man chimed in, his voice slightly droning. He didn't look at us, choosing instead to sift through a pile of reports in front of him.

"This is an incredible privilege," Senior Moff Harkins began again, nodding to each of us, "Do not squander Lord Vader's faith in you. Now, if you would, General Raneel, tell them of their mission."

A large man in a Stormtrooper officer uniform stood from his seat and reached the front of the table, looking at each of us as he stopped. He had short black hair and a large scar on his cheek, as if he had seen heavy combat. He had an air about him that demanded respect, and I was sure to give it. I have a massive amount of respect for anyone brave enough to serve in the Stormtrooper corps, and I didn't care much for any of the other ranks in the Empire, except for Lord Vader. He cut to the chase quickly.

"You all have been chosen to be part of a special squad, as you already know." He started, resting his hands on the table, "Recently, there have been a string of rebel attacks in Imperial City. The _Infinity _will be re-assigned there in about a week, and you four will be a special task force. Your job is to assault any bases or hideouts our informants are able to find, and any other tasks we feel you can handle. Any questions?" he finished, looking at me as I raised a hand.

"Yes, trooper?" he motioned for me to speak.

"Why such a small task force? And why me? There have to be better, more qualified troopers out there besides me for this." I said slowly, keeping a serious tone.

"Well, you seem to have impressed Lord Vader somehow trooper. And that is good enough for me. And, as it seems, you had the best scores out of your entire class, soaring above them especially in medical studies."

That surprised me. Grades in the Imperial Academy weren't released to the students. I had always considered myself mediocre, just good enough to join the corps, so hearing such praise from the general almost made me smile. But I kept a straight face as the pride welled up in my chest. The others simply nodded at the general as he began to answer my first question.

"And as for the size of your squad, "he stated, rubbing his chin, "The citizens are well aware of the attacks. But marching an entire legion into a city block would cause mass hysteria, and we don't need that."

The others nodded again, and Summer crossed her arms.

"Do I still get a big gun? I want to watch the rebels fall to pieces." she said in a serious tone, causing some of the less experienced officers to look at her with horrified expressions.

"Of course, as you know, Lord Vader has cleared you for the use of any weapons and armor you need. This mission is really in your hands," he said to all of us "Now, if that is all, you are all dismissed."

The four of us rose from our seats and saluted the general, then made our way back to our barracks.

"Well, I've never been to Imperial City. It's a bit exciting, isn't it?" Grey chimed in; breaking the silence he kept in the conference room.

"Yeah, I guess it is. I prefer the fields of Mandalore myself though, instead of a giant, bustling city world." Summer announced. I had almost forgotten that we were natives of the same planet.

"Agreed." I stated simply, still looking around at the shiny grey corridor. Mandalore was my home, and while I was wholly faithful to my home world, and my way of life, I was also faithful to the Empire. Skaal simply grunted, nodding his head.

"Well." Summer continued, crossing her arms, "I guess we have quite a bit to talk about before we reach Imperial city."

So much had changed in my life in just a few days, and I almost couldn't wrap my head around it. But I promised myself to serve Vader to the best of my ability. We all started towards our small table, and I smiled quietly.

**(I hope you like it! Please leave a review, and tell me what you think!)**


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